sustainableagriculture posts
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (3 months ago)
Feb 8th, 2013 at 12:00PM: Much ado about pork products is made on Gadling, with good reason. Even if you're sick to death of pork-centric eateries, and lardo this and sausage that, it's hard to deny the allure of the other white meat (I can't tell you how many vegetarians and vegans I know who still have a jones for bacon).
For those of you wanting to attend the ultimate porkapalooza, get your tickets for Cochon 555, a ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (4 months ago)
Jan 18th, 2013 at 9:00AM: Pork products may have reached their tipping point, but that doesn't mean you can't celebrate their existence. The second annual Sacramento Baconfest, held January 20-27, pays tribute to "pork from pigs who lived healthy, happy lives at farms where farmers value ethical and sustainable food production." I'll scarf some pork belly to that.
All bacon and other charcuterie served at Baconfest are ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (5 months ago)
Dec 14th, 2012 at 12:00PM: The land of goat milk, arugula, and honey continues to prosper, and no surprise, given that California's 81,700+ farms produce nearly half of all domestically-grown crops.
Thus, the third-annual California Restaurant Month kicks off in January, offering up 33 destinations where visitors and locals alike can savor the flavor of the nation's most cutting-edge culinary state (sorry, New York).
...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (11 months ago)
Jun 15th, 2012 at 12:00PM: From where I stood on the roof of Bastille Cafe & Bar in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood, I could see flocks of seagulls circling nearby fishing boats, as I catch whiffs of brine, gasoline and eau de canal water.
Despite the industrial marine supplies and salmon canneries across the way, up here I was surrounded by buzzing honeybees and dozens of varieties of produce, from heirloom French ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
May 3rd, 2012 at 11:00AM: Got an extra $20 burning a hole in your pocket and want to make a difference in the lives of others? Buy a flock of ducks. Eighty-five dollars will get you a camel share, while a mere $48 purchases a share in a "Knitter's Gift Basket (a llama, alpaca, sheep and angora rabbit)."
Since 1944, Heifer International has provided livestock, and animal husbandry, agricultural and community development ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Apr 16th, 2012 at 11:00AM: In less than a century, the United States has gone from being a mostly agrarian society to an urbanized one. Most of us live in cities and, despite our growing cultural fascination with food, most Americans have no idea where the ingredients on their plate (or in that wrapper) are actually coming from.
That's where "Food Forward" comes in. After a three-year effort, the premiere episode of this ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Mar 21st, 2012 at 12:00PM: Most children don't dream of selling cheese or hacking apart animal carcasses when they grow up, but it's a popular fantasy for many adults. Like most romantic-sounding culinary vocations, making craft foods and beverages can be hard work, and a risky business enterprise. "No matter how passionate someone is about their product," says Heidi Yorkshire, founder of Portland, Oregon's Food by Hand ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Mar 13th, 2012 at 2:00PM: Spring, as they say, has sprung. In farmstead and artisan cheese parlance, that means pastures are currently abound with calves, lambs, and kids (of the goat variety), and the first milk of the season is in. That's why March is the kickoff month for cheese festivals, especially on the West Coast because of its more mild climate. The following just happen to be some of the nation's best.
8th ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Feb 23rd, 2012 at 12:00PM: Who would have guessed that 30 years ago, a high-altitude, fancy-pants gathering of some chefs, winemakers, and hungry and thirsty revelers would have evolved into the nation's preeminent food and wine festival?
This year, from June 15-17th, Food & Wine magazine will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the legendary Food & Wine Classic at Aspen. Join the nation's top chefs including ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Dec 4th, 2011 at 12:00PM:
If you're of a certain age, you might recall that until the 1940's, horse was eaten in the United States--most notably during World War II, when beef prices rose and supply dwindled. By the eighties, dining on Mr. Ed definitely wasn't culturally acceptable, even if purchased for "pet food," and in 1998, California Proposition 6 outlawed horse meat and slaughter for human consumption.
Why, ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Nov 16th, 2011 at 12:00PM: Holiday shopping is easy if the people on your list like to eat and/or imbibe. If they're into travel--be it armchair or the real deal--the options are endless This year, think beyond the predictable bottle of wine or pricey "artisan" cookies and give reusable, portable, eco-friendly gifts or small-batch edibles that are the taste equivalent of a trip abroad.
As for where to get these items, ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Nov 12th, 2011 at 4:00PM: The holidays are Cheese Season. At no other time of the year are cheese and specialty food shops as thronged by dairy-seeking customers. They're hungry for a fix or searching for a gift, recipe ingredient, or the makings of a cheese plate. Cheese is love, and one of the easiest, most elegant ways to kick off a cocktail party or conclude (or make) a memorable meal.
With that in mind, the folks ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Oct 21st, 2011 at 12:00PM: It seems like summer had just begun (that's because a few weeks ago in Seattle, it had), and now we're in the throes of early winter fall. It's actually a beautiful time, what with the trees turning color, cutting through the gray and damp. The weather is crisp and on rare days, the sky is cerulean. There are worse places to experience the change of season.
Living in such an autumnal ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Oct 13th, 2011 at 8:00AM:
Life used to be so easy. You ate to live. Then, man discovered fire and realized mastodon tastes a lot better with a nice sear on it. Around 500,000 years later, Homo foodieus evolved, and now it's impossible to go out to eat without camera flashes going off at the tables around you.
Mercifully, there's a Foodie Backlash taking root in America, and I feel the time is ripe (Did you see how I ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Oct 10th, 2011 at 11:00AM: There are goat people, and then there...aren't. We're like dog people, except we can't carry the objects of our obsession in our purse. There aren't city parks dedicated to goats.
I grew up with goats because my brother and I raised them for 4-H. When we got our first dairy goat in the mid-'70's, my mom tapped her inner hippie, experimenting with making yogurt from the prodigious amounts of ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Sep 30th, 2011 at 12:00PM: Chilean wine--if given any thought at all--has historically been considered cheap plonk; the Gallo of the Southern Hemisphere.
Those days are over, baby. In recent years, Chile has become a contender with the wines of the more well-known Mendoza Valley in Argentina, just a very high-altitude hop over the Andes.
The central Chilean wine regions of Maipo, Colchagua, Casablanca, San Antonio, ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Sep 21st, 2011 at 10:00AM: There's something really depressing about seeing the last of the tomatoes, corn, and stonefruit at the farmers market, the withering vines in my neighbor's gardens. But fall is also an exciting time for produce geeks, what with all the peppers and squash, pomegranates and persimmons.
If you love yourself some good food and drink, here are five reasons to welcome fall. No matter where you live ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Sep 18th, 2011 at 11:00AM: It's amazing it took this long, what with national hot dog month, ice cream month, and clogged artery month (okay, I made that one up), but now we have a new reason to check in with our cardiologists.
The American Cheese Society ACS) has announced the launch of American Cheese Month, an annual celebration of America's artisan, farmstead, and specialty cheeses, and the farmers, cheesemakers, ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Aug 31st, 2011 at 2:30PM: I love to cook. Just not for myself. What I truly enjoy is feeding family and friends, but indoors or out the last thing I want to deal with is a labor-intensive meal--especially when it's hot. So, in honor of the upcoming holiday weekend, I'm sharing five of my favorite, late summer recipes. They feature easy-to-find ingredients, regardless of where you live, but if you can purchase the produce ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Jun 28th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
For Americans, there's no holiday more synonymous with eating outdoors than the Fourth of July. It's the ultimate summer dining event, one that largely emphasizes regional foods and seasonal ingredients.
Tomatoes and corn are perhaps the two most iconic summer foods served on the Fourth (just because we live in an era where we can purchase certain ingredients yearound doesn't mean they ...
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